Authorities identify motorist killed by NJ Transit train

CLIFTON -- A New Jersey Transit train without any passengers aboard struck a Jeep this morning in Passaic County, killing the man inside.

Authorities identified the dead man as James Brown, 34, of Passaic, said Dan Stessel, an NJ Transit spokesman.

Brown was in a 2006 Jeep, which was not at a designated railroad crossing when it was hit by the train at 5:23 a.m., Stessel said. The train's crew was not injured.

The vehicle may have left the road shortly before the crash and went through some trees before landing on the tracks, but an investigation is continuing.

The engineer activated the train's brakes but it did not stop in time, Stessel said. The nearest train crossing is at Park Avenue and Rutherford Boulevard, he said, about a quarter of a mile away. Stessel said it was "unclear how the car got on the tracks."

The NJ Transit train was on its way to Suffern, N.Y., where it was to begin its route on the Main Line.